An important river Wye tributary and its wildlife will be the beneficiaries of a joint endeavour between a leading quarrying company, Tarmac, and Britain’s largest Rivers Trust, the Wye & Usk Foundation (WUF).

The Wellington Brook, which flows into the river Lugg near the Herefordshire village of Marden, was once an important spawning stream for fish species such as Atlantic salmon and Brown trout. Years of heavy modification, however, including the dredging of gravels to improve land drainage has drastically reduced its ability to support fish species and other wildlife.

Following approval from the Lugg Internal Drainage Board (IDB), work will begin to restore the brook to its more natural state. Tarmac will supply machinery and gravel with WUF contributing other materials and environmental expertise. The work will be part of WUF’s successful Lugg and River Arrow (LARA) Project, which is restoring biodiversity – species richness and variety - in rivers within 10 miles of Leominster. Focussing on fish, the 3-year project is funded by the SITA Trust’s Enriching Nature Programme and is due to be completed this year. So far 11km of river habitat have been restored and 2 fish passes have been built.

Michael Charlton, Restoration Manager for Tarmac said: “Conserving biodiversity is really important to Tarmac so we are delighted to be working with WUF on this exciting project to increase the habitat diversity of Wellington Brook, which was a key objective of our site Biodiversity Action Plan. This work adds further ecological value to a site which already provides varied habitats for a wide range of wildlife in the restored areas of the quarry.”

Dr Stephen Marsh-Smith, Director of WUF said: “Work on this lower Lugg tributary offers the chance to re-create salmon and trout spawning sites at an important point in the Wye catchment. Tarmac has already set aside a nature zone within the quarry’s operations and now this site will include a river of considerable value and biodiversity. None of this could have been done without the support of Tarmac, funding from the SITA Trust and a more environmentally sympathetic working policy from the Lugg IDB.”